McCain To Obama: Wars Don't End Because You Declare Them Over

"Because the President of the United States declares a conflict over does mean that in the eyes of the enemy it is over. Conflicts end when the enemy is defeated."

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) advised President Obama to "get a new national security team in place" and blasted him for thinking the Iraq war has ended just "because the President of the Unites States declares a conflict over."

In remarks made on the floor of the US Senate, the man who ran against the President in 2008 reflected on the various failures the president has experienced recently, including the imminent fall of Baghdad at the hands of al Qaeda linked militants. ​ Denouncing Obama's "withdrawl without victory" strategy, McCain lectured Obama that wars arent over until the enemy is defeated.

"Because the President of the United States declares a conflict over does mean that in the eyes of the enemy it is over. Conflicts end when the enemy is defeated. The Iraq war did not end because the forces still in Iraq were not defeated.”

He reminded Obama that he and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pleaded with the President to "please leave a small force behind in Iraq" so that the sacrifices made there would not have been in vain and made the same plea for the current withdrawal plans for Afghanistan.

“I say to the President of the United States, get a new national security team in place. You have been ill-served by the national security team you have in place now, and the decisions you have made. Have that new national security team come up with a strategy to do whatever we can to prevent this direct threat to the national security of this nation.